Flight Pattern by Dianna Sinovic
March 30, 2023 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as fiction, flash Fiction, Flight Pattern
Dianna has had a very busy month, so we’re rerunning a flash fiction piece from several years ago. She’ll return next month with a new post.
Flight Pattern
Joe cradled the cockatiel in his hands, then extended one of the bird’s wings to trim the flight feathers. His flock of birds now numbered eight, and one pair had three eggs incubating. The birds shrieked and twittered around him as the morning sun though the skylights lit up the aviary.
“Easy there,” he said softly, gently turning the bird and trimming the other wing. The bird’s mate was preening on a nearby branch.
After releasing the cockatiel, he surveyed the aviary. Carey was coming by in twenty minutes, expecting a tour. Would she like it? It was important to him that she understand his passion. These birds were precious to him—they kept him sane. He walked with effort to the doorway and looked back one more time.
He had met Carey a month ago, when she sat next to him at a township meeting. He had come to make a statement about the pending municipal budget. She was there to see her friend’s grandson get a community award. They got to talking and discovered that they had both lost spouses. They both read voraciously, he about the Civil War and she about women’s history. And she loved birds. Joe had vowed to himself that no one would ever replaced Amelia, but he was drawn to Carey’s joie de vivre. She wasn’t pretentious, and she seemed genuinely interested in him.
Joe’s arthritic hip wouldn’t let him go birding with her, but she said she was intrigued by his cockatiels.
But now he was nervous. Twice he checked his reflection in the hall mirror, smoothing his thinning hair. When he saw her drive up, he felt as he had all those years ago, when he and Amelia were on their first date. Could love happen twice in one life?
“Joe, you look pale. Are feeling alright?” Carey wore a peach scoop-necked shirt and tan capris. She looked lovely.
“I’m fine, fine.” He ushered her in the door and accepted her gift of freshly baked bread.
“I thought we might have a slice or two after we look at the birds.” She looked around at the modest living room, and Joe was pleased to see her nod in approval.
The aviary was at the back of the house, in a room that had once been the den. He had built a screened foyer that allowed him to look into the aviary before entering it. Most guests got only that far—a chance to see the birds but not handle them. Joe took Carey into the room itself. When a bird landed on his shoulder, he transferred it to her hand. He pointed out the markings that made cockatiels unique. He told her about building his flock after Amelia’s death. He showed her the nest with the three perfect eggs.
“Would you like one of the hatchlings?”
Carey shook her head. “Thank you, Joe, but I think the baby birds belong here, with your flock.” She seemed to sense his disappointment. “Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the offer.” Her eyes twinkled. “In fact, I will take one of the hatchlings—as long as it stays in the aviary. That will give me an excuse to come here as often as you’ll have me.”
Some of Dianna’s short stories are in the following anthologies.
Worldbuilding: You’ve Got the Whole World in Your Hands
March 19, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes, Writing tagged as Age 2 Perfection Online Class, Caridad Pineiro, Worldbuilding
Presented by: Caridad Pineiro
Date: April 22, 2023, Saturday, 9AM PDT, 10AM MT, 11AM CT, 12 Noon ET
Registration Closes: April 23, 2023
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $5
Non-A2P Member fee: $10
About the Workshop:
Whether you are writing a contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, or science fiction novel, the world in which you place your heroine is one that is different from the ordinary world of the reader. Because of this, it is essential that you establish the norms of your world and stick to them to create a sense of realism for the reader. In this workshop, Caridad will explore ways in which you can build your world and teach you why “You’ve got the whole world in your hands!”
About the Presenter:
Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with the Jersey Shore. When Caridad isn’t taking long strolls along the boardwalk, she’s also a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author with over a million romance novels sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the RT Book Club Convention, Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country. You can connect with Caridad at www.caridad.com.
0 0 Read moreReal Talk.
March 16, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as Multi-tasking, parenting, snow, Thin Mints, WinterReal talk rn…I have to give so much kudos to those of you that have mastered the multi-tasking of parenting, working full-time, and writing. I’ll fully admit that I’m not the greatest at it.
Last fall my youngest came home with a flier for the Girl Scouts. She waved that thing in my face and said, “Mommy, I want to do this!”
Being that both my kids are already enrolled in multiple sports, swimming lessons, and that she was just getting into the groove of kindergarten, I was a little hesitant. I’m so glad that I ultimately said yes because she’s truly found her tribe in this pint-sized troop, and it’s been a wonderful experience.
What I didn’t expect was that cookie season would be a FULL TIME SIDE HUSTLE!
I anticipated that there would be some time commitment, but let’s be real, six year olds are not equipped to manage the inventory and sales of this (at least my six year old isn’t). I can barely figure out the application used for online sales!! I had to create my own spreadsheet for keeping track of the cookie inventory that we’ll be responsible for if we don’t sell these things. For the love of Thin Mints, my sanity (and my waistline) is very much ready for cookie season to end.
Another thing that I need to end is the SNOW.
As I write this, Minnesota is experiencing our seventh snowiest winter on record. This miserable achievement is compounded by the fact that my husband injured his neck earlier this winter and I’ve been tasked with mastering the BEAST of a snow blower that we own. My husband is basically “Tim The Tool Man Taylor” and every motorized piece of equipment we own is unnecessarily massive.
Please send sunshine and red wine (It pairs nicely with Thin Mints).
When you’re on deadline and the time changes and you freak out when you lose an hour by Jina Bacarr
March 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as #Historical, clocks forward, editing, Paris, time change, women's fiction, World War 2, writing
when the time changes and you don’t…
If there’s one thing we writers never have enough of…
It’s time.
Words we got… thousands.
Coffee… by the potful.
Comfy bunny slippers… on automatic re-order from Amazon.
But time?
That’s as elusive as the instant bestseller.
I’m on autopilot this week until whenever to get it all together and bring my next Paris WW2 novel home for my publisher Boldwood Books. Amazing company. They take good care of their authors… fabulous marketing team… I love my editor, Isobel… and the company has won several ‘Best Publisher’ awards in the UK and is up for more awards this year.
And my fellow authors are like family to me.
But in the end, it’s up to me to write the damn book.
Sweat, tears… blood. Yes, I changed the order because I sweat the small stuff like commas and the big stuff like research which turns into major tears when I realize writing never gets easier but tougher (you demand more of yourself)… and blood because if you don’t bleed onto the page, you’re not giving it your all.
So, mes amis, tonight is the night we turn the clocks forward and lose the hour.
But guess what. I’ve decided to do something about it.
I’m going to type twice as fast for a solid hour (accuracy is another story) and write twice as many words and–
Voilà!
I’ve got my hour back… at least for tonight.
Tomorrow?
Well, that’s another day.
===============
Some great book news:
The trade paperback of my Paris WW2 novel THE LOST GIRL OF PARIS
is coming to THE WORKS stores in the UK… so check it out if you’re in the United Kingdom.
Listen to an excerpt in the video below…
E-book:
My heroine, Angeline de Cadieux, is a Roma girl in WW2 Paris… she’s strong, fights in the Resistance… makes exquisite perfumes and comes up with an amazing marketing campaign during the war to boost morale in France.
Thank you!
————–
And THE RUNAWAY GIRL is a Kindle Monthly Deal in Australia.
Thanks for listening… and now back to our regularly scheduled craziness.
Jina
More Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please
February 16, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as Children's stories, Childrens Lit, Mac and Cheese, teachers, writingMy eldest daughter was in kindergarten the year that I published my children’s book, Mac and Cheese, Please, Please Please. Her Kindergarten teacher and classmates instantly became my “M&C Triple P Fan Club”. I mean, it’s a rhyming book with easy to read words, repeated sentence structure and a memorable plot-twist ending… That has ‘Kindergartener’ written all over it! (Pun 100% intended)
As a lot of parents can relate, my daughter’s kindergarten year was impacted by the pandemic and her class moved to a distanced learning format to finish out the year.
Fast forward a few years and you can imagine our delight when my daughter learned that her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. K, would now be her third grade teacher! I was honestly feeling relief because after Mrs. K transferred to third grade, all I heard about was how my daughter hoped she had Mrs. K for third grade, and I was not prepared to deal with the disappointment had that not been the outcome.
When we went to open house at the beginning of the school year, my daughter quickly recognized that a lot of the kids from her kindergarten class were going to be in her third grade class too. When we pointed this out to Mrs. K she smiled and said that she had asked the principal if she could have as many kinds from her kindergarten class as possible so they could, “Finally finish the year together.”
Her words still make me cry. We are so lucky to have teachers like Mrs. K.
As it turns out, the kids in this class are still diehard Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please fans and they are straight-up demanding another book. So I started writing the sequel and I’m pretty excited about it. The only teaser that I’ll share is that my kids helped me pick the setting of the book, and as a result I’ve been watching A LOT of YouTube videos about space. Excited to share more updates soon!
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